Ten attempts to prove the Generalized Second Law of Thermodyanmics (GSL) are described and critiqued. Each proof provides valuable insights which should be useful for constructing future, more complete proofs. Rather than merely summarizing previous research, this review offers new perspectives, and strategies for overcoming limitations of the existing proofs. A long introductory section addres...

In this paper, the speed of technology of civil jet engines is investigated. A fundamental limit is found to exist by the second law of thermodynamics, but it is not reached yet. A technology measure based on airplane efficiency is derived and applied to jet airlines of different sizes and time periods, ranging back to the 1960’s.

We investigate implications of decoherence for quantum systems which are classically chaotic. We show that, in open systems, the rate of von Neumann entropy production quickly reaches an asymptotic value which is: (i) independent of the system-environment coupling, (ii) dictated by the dynamics of the system, and (iii) dominated by the largest Lyapunov exponent. These results shed a new light o...

There are two fair ways to distribute particles in boxes. The first way is to divide the particles equally between the boxes. The second way, which is calculated here, is to score fairly the particles between the boxes. The obtained power law distribution function yields an uneven distribution of particles in boxes. It is shown that the obtained distribution fits well to sociological phenomena,...

The second law of thermodynamics has a curious status. Manymodern physicists regard it as an obsolete relic from a bygone age, while many others, even today, consider it one of the most firmly established and secure achievements of science ever accomplished. From the perspective of the foundations of physics, a particularly interesting question is its relationship with the notion of irreversibi...

An analog of the Carnot engine reversibly operating within the framework of pure-state quantum mechanics is discussed. A general formula is derived for the efficiency of such an engine with an arbitrary confining potential. Its expression is given in terms of an energy spectrum and shows how the efficiency depends on a potential as the analog of a working material in thermodynamics, in general....

We study the conditions of validity of the generalized second law in phantom dominated era. PACS: 98.80.-k, 98.80.Jk

In this work we show that corrections to the second Newtons law appears if we assume that the phase space has a symplectic structure consistent with the rules of commutation of the noncommutative quantum mechanics. In the central field case we find that the correction term breaks the rotational symmetry. In particular, for the Kepler problem, this term takes the form of a Coriolis force produce...

We derive a generalization of the Second Law of Thermodynamics that uses Bayesian updates to explicitly incorporate the effects of a measurement of a system at some point in its evolution. By allowing an experimenter’s knowledge to be updated by the measurement process, this formulation resolves a tension between the fact that the entropy of a statistical system can sometimes fluctuate downward...

Skeptics of biological evolution often claim that evolution requires a decrease in entropy, giving rise to a conflict with the second law of thermodynamics. This argument is fallacious because it neglects the large increase in entropy provided by sunlight striking the Earth. A recent article provided a quantitative assessment of the entropies involved and showed explicitly that there is no conf...